Just as Sakura Wars 2 took the original and pushed it into the stratosphere, improving every inch for a bold, masterpiece of a blank check video game, Sakura Wars 3 makes 2 look like a warm-up.
Besides the obvious graphical upgrade you'd expect from a new console, the gameplay (while still simple and easy) has been completely redone, transformed into what would eventually evolve into Valkyria Chronicles's thrilling semi-real-time strategy. Suddenly, fights have a real energy to them, bolstered only by the very charming animation from the 3D models.
Course, the real highlight here is the writing. Is there a better cast in all of games? Every single character is bursting with personality and love; everybody is a caricature, but also deeply complex, bouncing off each other and evolving with propulsive force and often surprising naturalism. Truly felt like family by the end. Which would be enough, but then the game manages to have a lot to say without throwing out the series' trademark camp and 90s anime bravado! It talks about war and national identity, the way the places we live influence our person, how oppression and jingoism breed. What is home when you are displaced, when you don't have one anymore, ya know?
It's beautiful, it's funny, it's rousing and touching makes you feel whole. Sakura Wars 3 believes in humans with all its heart, and it makes me want to believe in them too. One of the greatest games ever made.
Besides the obvious graphical upgrade you'd expect from a new console, the gameplay (while still simple and easy) has been completely redone, transformed into what would eventually evolve into Valkyria Chronicles's thrilling semi-real-time strategy. Suddenly, fights have a real energy to them, bolstered only by the very charming animation from the 3D models.
Course, the real highlight here is the writing. Is there a better cast in all of games? Every single character is bursting with personality and love; everybody is a caricature, but also deeply complex, bouncing off each other and evolving with propulsive force and often surprising naturalism. Truly felt like family by the end. Which would be enough, but then the game manages to have a lot to say without throwing out the series' trademark camp and 90s anime bravado! It talks about war and national identity, the way the places we live influence our person, how oppression and jingoism breed. What is home when you are displaced, when you don't have one anymore, ya know?
It's beautiful, it's funny, it's rousing and touching makes you feel whole. Sakura Wars 3 believes in humans with all its heart, and it makes me want to believe in them too. One of the greatest games ever made.